Lack of traction for mobility and for stopping on slick and ice covered pavements has plagued motorists in spite of snow and rain tires. For example, with the freezing rain encountered in the winter of '78--'79, inter alia, four hundred expensive "minor" accidents and about one hundred more serious accidents occurred according to the claim file of one insurance company* during one week in January, 1979, in Grand Rapids, Mich. One "minor" accident caused $600.00 in damage to the rear of one car when hit by a van which could not stop because of the frozen rain on the pavement. Also calls for tow trucks swamp garages and service stations because of cars which can't move on the slick and ice covered pavements. FNT *AllState
Conventional chains are recognized as a medium which produces starting and stopping traction, but due to the fact that they are difficult to put on, they are not used by the vast majority of motorists. Also with the squeeze for room in the later car models with the inside larger and the outside smaller, there is no room between the tires and the wheel housing to allow the conventional chains to by-pass.